


when people talk of love we're what they're talkin' 'bout

by owilde



Series: forever is ours [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Everything's gay and sweet, F/F, Izzy and Clary are wedding planners and cute girlfriends, M/M, POV Alternating, Raphael is a bit of a Bridezilla and Simon's stressed out, Wedding Fluff, Wordcount: 5.000-10.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 07:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6694174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owilde/pseuds/owilde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What is it?" Alec asked.</p><p>Izzy leaned to look at the phone, her eyebrows flying up in surprise as she read the message. "Wow," she breathed out, turning to look at Alec.</p><p>"What?" He repeated, impatient.</p><p>"It seems like our good friend Simon needs someone to plan his wedding."</p>
            </blockquote>





	when people talk of love we're what they're talkin' 'bout

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to 'forever isn't too long, when i'm right where i belong', so if you want to read the proposal, then I suggest you read that one first. Although, I think you can understand this even without reading it. 
> 
> Title taken from Holley Maher's "Golden". Un-beta'd, let me know if there's any horrible mistakes that stick out?
> 
>  **Edit:** As **gingerbreadsed** pointed out, Rebecca was supposed to give Simon away, not Clary. That kinda slipped from my mind and I forgot, so. My bad and sorry 'bout that one.

**i. Alec**

"You two are so in love it's absolutely disgusting," Alec told Izzy and Clary as he walked into the living room of the Institute, Church trailing behind him. Isabelle leaned her face away from Clary, but not far - her hair was still brushing Clary's shoulder softly. She raised a brow at him, defiantly.

"So, you finally decided to grace us with your presence, then," Izzy threw back. She and Clary were occupying the couch, sitting side by side. Well, _Clary_ was sitting; Izzy was curled up next to her as close as humanly possible, one arm casually thrown over Clary and her feet lifted up. Her _shoes_ were on the _couch_ , and if Alec hadn't been living with Magnus for the past half a year, he would've gone to a shock.

Unfortunately, he'd seen a lot worse by now.

Alec briefly considered the pros and cons of trying to snatch a quick picture of his sister and Clary, cuddled together. Pros: he'd have something to coo over with Magnus later. Cons: Isabelle might've had some discriminating pictures of him, and he wasn't quite certain he was willing to risk that.

"I'm gone for _two days_ and it's like I went MIA," he sighed and sat down on the free armchair opposite the couch, a coffee table set between them. Clary laughed loudly, causing Izzy to send her a _look_. Alec knew that look well - it was the ' _how did I get so lucky as to have you_ ' one, the one he imagined he often had when he was staring at Magnus. Alec's lips involuntarily turned up to a small smile at the thought of the warlock.

"What Izzy _means_ to say is that ever since you moved in with Magnus, we haven't really seen you. Like, at _all_. She keeps telling me how much she misses you, Alec, honestly-" Clary started telling him before Isabelle interrupted her by throwing her hand over her mouth, making a shushing noise.

"Alec doesn't need to know that, _Clare darling_ ," she warned her sweetly.

Alec grinned, because since when had his life been this great?

Izzy released Clary, who smirked. "Are you sure? There's _a lot of things_ I could tell Alec..." she trailed off, and Alec really, _really_ didn't want to know what she was thinking about with that lewd smile.

"You know what, I'm good," he hurried to say, shaking his head. "I'm glad you two are doing fine, though."

" _More_ than fine."

"Izzy-"

"Hey, guys," Clary interrupted, frowning at her phone. She lifted it up, turning the screen around. Alec leaned forward and squinted his eyes, attempting to read the tiny text on it. He gave up soon, shaking his head.

"What is it?" He asked.

Izzy leaned to look at the phone, her eyebrows flying up in surprise as she read the message. "Wow," she breathed out, turning to look at Alec.

"What?" He repeated, impatient.

"It seems like our good friend Simon needs someone to plan his wedding."

**ii. Clary**

_**From** _ _: Si <3 [5:37pm] heyyy clary! so, um. there's this thing i need to ask?_

 _**From** _ _: Si <3 [5:38pm] it's a bit... much, i guess. but i rly need some help._

 _**From** _ _: Si <3 [5:38pm] i need u and izzy to help plan my wedding. there, i said it_

Clary's fingers flew over the screen as she typed a response, grinning widely in astonishment. She'd been waiting for this for a while, now. It'd been some time since Raphael had approached her with proposing to Simon, and since Simon had called her to confirm that Raphael had, in fact, gone through with it. Clary had seen the ring, by now - although, to be fair, Simon had probably showed it off to every single person he'd come across since the proposal. It was _beautiful_ , of course. Clary had cursed Raphael in her head for being so _good_ at things like this.

 _**To** _ _: Si <3 [5:40pm] oH MY GOD SIMON_

 _**To** _ _: Si <3 [5:40pm] YES WE'LL HELP_

 _**To** _ _: Si <3 [5:41pm] IZZY IS NODDING HER HEAD SHE SAYS IT'S GOING TO BE GREAT!!_

Clary looked up from her phone and at Izzy, who was doing neither of these things.

"You're fine with this, right? 'Cause I already told Simon we'd help," Clary asked, biting her lip nervously. She was quite certain Isabelle didn't have any problem with planning a wedding - she'd pretty much already done it once. But Clary didn't want to be an asshole and just force her to it.

To her relief, Izzy grinned, saying, "of _course_ " with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

They both turned to look at Alec, who stared back at them with wide eyes, already getting up from his chair. "Nope," he said, lifting Church up to his arms on his way out, "I am not going to help you on this one. I'll go find Jace."

After he'd turned around the corner, Clary's phone beeped and the screen lit up with a new text.

 _**From** _ _: Si <3 [5:45pm] okay, alright. good good. raphael says if you don't have at least some proper spanish traditions he'll skin you_

 _**From** _ _: Si <3 [5:46m] he also says playing Ricky Martin doesn't count_

Clary shook her head in disappointment. "Guess we won't be listening to _María_ , then," she said sorrowfully. Izzy reached over to take her phone, typing a reply.

 _**To** _ _: Si <3 [5:47pm] this is izzy. tell raph we'll do our very best, and that we're very trustworthy_

 _**From** _ _: Si <3 [5:47pm] This is Raphael. Your 'very best' isn't enough when it's about MY WEDDING. I need something... "much romantic, such beauty". Bien?_

Izzy snorted, and Clary fell just a bit more in love with her, if possible. "Simon's been teaching him memes," Izzy said, "this is way too hilarious. Also I probably should've called the fact that Raphael would be a nightmare in this whole thing."

 _**To** _ _: Si <3 [5:49pm] yes, bien, bien. don't worry raph, it'll be perfect <3_

Isabelle placed the phone on the coffee table, sighing. Clary scooted closer to her, wrapping both of her arms around Izzy, resting her chin against her shoulder. Izzy turned her head, pressing a soft kiss to Clary's forehead.

Clary wondered how she'd gotten so fucking _lucky_.

"I love you," she mumbled quietly.

"Love you too," Isabelle whispered back. Then she smirked. "But hey, we have a lot of work to do, now. Can't let Simon down."

Clary grinned back at her.

**iii. Magnus**

Raphael didn't often call Magnus on the phone, which Magnus thought was a shame. He even less often visited him in person, which Magnus thought was _truly_ a shame.

So when Raphael called him, telling him he was standing outside of Magnus' apartment, Magnus was rightfully worried about it.

He buzzed Raphael in, gathering Chairman Meow up in his arms and flicking his wrist to clean some of the mess up while waiting. Not that the place was even in that bad of a shape - ever since Alec had permanently moved in, the upkeeping of the apartment had significantly improved. Magnus even _dusted_ occasionally, now.

The doorbell rang, and he opened the door to Raphael, who stepped in without a word and made a beeline to the couch, where he pressed his face into a pillow and let out a loud scream.

Magnus quickly closed the door; his neighbours worried enough as it was.

"Care to tell me why you're yelling into my highly valuable pillow, dear?" He inquired, following Raphael into the living room where he was now sitting on the couch, his knees tucked under his chin and the pillow lying abandoned next to him.

Raphael sneered, his face twisting into a frown. "It's the wedding," he explained somberly. "It's driving me _insane_."

Had Magnus been a lesser man, he would've laughed. As it were, he only gave a condesending snicker. "You're already planning it?" He asked, and Raphael groaned.

"Simon thought it would be a good idea to have someone else plan it," he told Magnus, looking pained. "So he texted Clary Fray and her girlfriend."

Magnus honestly didn't see the flaw in this idea. "Why is that a bad thing?" He asked, frowning.

Raphael rolled his eyes dramatically, sighing. "Because then _I_ can't take part in the planning, and I want it all to go _smoothly_ , Magnus. It needs to be _perfect._ "

"I recall you once telling me you _weren't_ a romantic, Raphael."

"I'm _not_ ," Raphael muttered, then added, "Simon just deserves the best."

And, fine, Magnus wasn't made of _stone_ \- he smiled softly at Raphael. "It's strange to see you in love," he admitted. "I thought I'd never get to witness it."

Raphael hummed, closing his eyes and resting his head against the back of the couch. "Well, to be fair, I never really cared for anyone before Simon," he said. "It just wasn't something that interested me; relationships, I mean. The way you used to throw yourself at everyone was as strange to me as me not having anyone was to you. It's not that I thought about it being right or wrong, I just was indifferent to it all.

And I guess I still didn't understand it when I met Simon. But then I got to know him, and... Well. He's the _one_ , Magnus, I know it. I've never, and will never in the future, love anyone the same way."

Magnus sat in silence, watching Raphael. "I have a feeling," he finally said, "that your wedding vows will make me weep."

**iv. Maryse**

Maryse didn't know what to make of... of all that had happened. She was glad, obviously, that her children had found some form of happiness, no matter from _whom_. And she'd taken a liking to Clary Fray, eventually. The rocky path that'd led to their mutual understanding had been difficult, but she was now satisfied to have her be a part of her family, in some way.

Yet, despite her happiness, there was a simmering apprehension constantly residing under her skin.

Her eldest son, in a relationship with a _warlock_. Isabelle had told her she needed to work on overcoming her previous prejudices, to try and achieve a better understanding of Downworlders.

Then she'd begun seeing Clary.

Maryse pursed her lips, sighing. She felt as if she was contradicting herself in every thought she had. She was _happy_ , but also... not.

She glanced at the opened wedding invitation lying on the kitchen table in front of her. She supposed she'd have to go, if only to please her children. She didn't know much about Simon Lewis, but she'd worked with Raphael Santiago before. He was pleasant enough, and easy to co-operate with if his terms were met. For him to fall for a mundane...

Well, from what she'd heard, not _quite_ a mundane anymore.

Jace walked into the kitchen, shaking his head from one side to another in the beat of the music blasting from his headphones. He didn't immidiately notice her, but once he did, he smiled brightly. She did her best to return the gesture.

Jace's eyes fell to the paper, and he pointed at it. "What's that?" He asked, removing his headphones. A quiet melody could still be faintly heard, carrying out to where Maryse was standing.

"It's a wedding invitation," she told him. Jace lifted his brows in surprise. Maryse frowned - had he not known?

Then he snatched the paper and read through it, beginning to grin. "I honestly thought this would've happened sooner," he told her, "taking into account that Raphael proposed, like, _forever_ ago." He flipped the invitation around once, finding nothing, and put it back on the counter.

"Are you going there? I guess I could be your plus one," Jace said jokingly.

Maryse shook her head, smiling. "I'll have to check to see if my schedule is free, but I should assume so. And that won't be necessary. But thank you."

Jace shrugged, already pulling his headphones back on and grabbing a glass of water. "Shame," he said and sauntered away towards the library, leaving Maryse standing alone in the kitchen.

**v. Jace**

_**To** _ _: Clar-ayy [11:23] The wedding's soon?? And no one bothered to inform me???_

He sent the text quickly before he could change his mind, pocketing his phone as he approached the library. It wasn't that he was actively disappointed or mad about not getting an invitation, but, well. It would've been _nice_. Was he not part of their circle, anymore? He opened the library doors, walking in and setting his things down on the table closest to the door.

His phone vibrated, and Jace checked Clary's reply.

 _**From** _ _: Clar-ayy [11:25] i literally sent u an invitation a month ago? and by sent i mean put in on your desk_

Oh.

 _Oh_.

Jace grimaced as he recalled emptying all the papers on his desk to the trashcan, figuring none of it was vitally important.

 _**To** _ _: Clar-ayy [11:26] yeaah, oops. guess that's my fault, then._

 _**To** _ _: Clar-ayy [11:27] well can you tell me where/when?_

He heard someone laugh loudly, and the next second Alec walked in, phone pressed to his ear. He was smiling, carrying a few books on his free hand. "Right, sure," he said, dumping the books on the same table where Jace was before sitting down. "No, no, I trust you. I'm _sure_ it was a pure accident that the asshole who insulted me suddenly tripped like that and got robbed in the progress." Alec laughed again. "It's _fine_ , Magnus. I'm not mad."

Jace looked at Alec, eyeing him up an down. He didn't look like something a cat had dragged out of a dumpster, anymore. The dark circles under his eyes were mostly gone, which Jace thought was definitely the best improvement.

Well, no. The best one was that Alec looked genuinely  _happy_ , nowadays.

"... love you, too," Alec said, before hanging up. He was still smiling widely.

"Was that Magnus?" Jace asked, though he knew the answer.

"Yeah, it was," Alec started. "We were just... There was this guy at the train station who was being less than polite, and Magnus... _meddled_ , a bit," he told Jace, looking sheepish.

Jace smirked, then leaned forward. "What guy? Do I need to kick his ass?"

Alec laughed, shaking his head. "No, no, it's fine. He was being an asshole, it's not a big deal."

Jace thought that someone being an asshole to _his_ best friend was defnitely _a big deal_ , but whatever. His phone beeped.

 _**From** _ _: Clar-ayy [11:32] it'll be in central park and the reception starts @ 11:30pm ON THE DOT so u need to be there at 11:00pm. also the date is 25.9_

Jace glanced up. "What day is it?" He asked Alec, who shrugged, then checked his phone.

"It's the 20th," he replied.

"Of September?"

"Of September."

Huh. Jace grimaced, and looked back at his phone.

"So the wedding's in under a week?"

"Yes? Did you _not_ know that?"

Jace rolled his eyes. "Oh please, it's not like you're super invested."

Alec shot him an offended look. "I'm friends with Simon," he told Jace, frowning.

"You _are_?"

Jace had missed a lot, apparently. Maybe he should start socializing more again; it seemed like he missed all the gossip around here. And that was just _tragic_.

**vi. Isabelle**

Planning a wedding was _amazing_. When Simon had approached them - and it was _them_ because she, to her continuing delight, had Clary with her - about setting the whole event up, they hadn't wasted any time. The invitations had been designed by Clary, and they'd picked the venue (which had been a bit trickier, seeing as it had to be open during night), and then all the little details had slowly but surely come together.

Flowers, food, guests - everything was set up and done.

Yet Izzy couldn't shake off the feeling that somehow, _something_ was bound to go horribly wrong. Maybe it was the added element of half of the guest list being vampires while the other half was Shadowhunters, with a few mundanes thrown in to the mix. And a werewolf. And- well.

Izzy read through her to-do list once more.

  1. _venue - central park (Shakespeare Garden!!) - GET LIGHTS! (magnus?)_
  2. _flowers - ivory calla lilly, silk foliage, diamantes, burgandy roses, black feathers_ _- ~~consult florist?~~_
  3. ~~_food - bloody mary's (HA HA CLARY NICE ONE)_~~
  4. _food - fish? ask jace he's good with food (jace says salmon & free-choice side dish to those who can eat)_
  5. _guest list - done_ _( ~~consult raphael)~~_
  6. _GUESTS AT THE GARDEN 11PM_
  7. _ceremony at 11:30pm - exchange of vows, the coin thing, etc._
  8. _reception at a nearby hotel (_ ~~_call to check with them about time schedule_ ~~_)_



Everything _seemed_ to be alright. Simon's sister had promised to take pictures, Maureen had promised she could sing something, Maryse had promised to behave. Everything was _fine._

And then Simon called her in panic at two am, a few days before the wedding.

She'd just fallen asleep, Clary snuggled close next to her, when her phone rang, waking both of them up. Izzy reached for the device, blindly smacking at her desk with one hand until she found it. She squinted her eyes, trying to read the blurry called ID. Then she sighed, sitting up.

"Simon, hey," she whispered. Next to her, Clary became more alert, rolling over to look at her.

" _Izzy?_ " Simon asked on the other end of the line, his voice shaking. Izzy frowned.

"Is everything alright?" She asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"

There was a pause, during which Isabelle stood up, mouthing _be right back_ to Clary before tip-toeing out of the room. Once in the hallway she leaned against a wall, before sliding down to sit on the floor.

" _Yeah_ ," Simon said. " _I mean, no. Not really. Kind of?_ "

"You're not making sense," Izzy told him. "Can you tell me what happened?"

" _Nothing happened, it's just... It's the wedding,_ " Simon took a shuddering breath. " _I'm not sure I'm, like, ready for it._ "

Before Isabelle could reply, he started rambling on.

" _I mean, I love Raphael, right? Really, I do, so much it hurts, but... But it's so stressful? Because now it's like, "till death do us apart, so never, funny right, 'cause we're immortal, ha ha", but then I started thinking about it and it really is, like,_ forever _, and I don't think I'm afraid of commitment or anything but forever is a long ass time, what if he gets bored with me or I get bored with him or something happens or-_ "

Izzy interrupted him with a loud hush. "Simon, it's _alright_ ," she said. "It'd be more weird if you _weren't_ stressed out and panicking, really." She thought for a moment. "Are you at the hotel?"

" _Yeah_ ," Simon said weakly.

"Good. Go find Raphael, I'll text him right now. Don't worry about anything."

After hanging up, she send Raphael said promised text.

 _**To** _ _: raph boo [02:13am] hey, raphael? simon's having a crisis - can you handle it? and let me know later if everything's alright?_

Izzy sneaked back into their room, placing the phone back on the desk. Clary sneaked her arm over her waist as soon as she slipped back into bed, radiating warmth.

Izzy hadn't realized how cold she was.

"Is Simon okay?" Clary whispered, looking at Isabelle in the dark.

"Yeah, he was just... worried," she reassured her. "I send him to Raphael. It's fine."

Clary hummed, and eventually Izzy fell asleep again.

Her phone's screen lit up one more time later during the night, shining in the dark room.

 _**From** _ _: raph boo [05:10am] Simon's fine. We talked._

 _**From** _ _: raph boo [05:11am] Thank you. I'm glad he has you in his life._

**vii. Maureen**

Maureen was, to sum it up neatly, _confused_.

Simon had always been a pretty simple guy, to her. Nerdy, smart, funny, good at playing the guitar, nice enough looking. He'd had friends, he'd been relatively social. They'd gotten along well.

Then he'd vanished off the face of the earth for _weeks_. Maureen had called him, no answer. She'd called Clary, and gotten a vague response about Simon being sick. Maureen hadn't believed her - no one was sick for that long, and even if they were, they didn't stop picking up the phone altogether. So she'd visited his house, where Rebecca had opened the door with a tear streaked face, shaking her head when Maureen had asked where Simon was, and if he was alright.

She'd assumed that Simon had died, or at the very least was kidnapped or something.

And _then_ , about a month later, he'd called her, out of nowhere. Very much alive, very much sounding like the same Simon as always. She recalled her starting to cry, and Simon beginning to sob as well, and apologizing for disappearing like that. He'd never offered a proper explanation, and dodged the question or changed the subject whenever she brought it up.

Eventually she gave up - Simon was alive and well, and that was all that mattered.

Maureen had thought - well, _hoped_ \- that maybe now that he was back, they could have something together. That maybe there was a chance for them to have some kind of life with each other.

That had been before she'd found out he was already taken.

To be fair, Simon's boyfriend was really cute, if the pictures were anything to go by. But he was _weird_. Simon told her he kept odd schedules because of his work, and that yes, he was naturally that pale, and _yes_ , he penciled his eyebrows, and that he just didn't like eating in front of people when she suggested they all have lunch together.

No one in their right mind should be able to say no to garlic bread, really.

But she let it go - if the guy made Simon happy, she was happy. And Clary had vouched for him. Maureen trusted Clary's judgement in this.

None of this had done _anything_ to ease her confusion when she'd opened her mail box to see a fucking _wedding invitation_ there, addressed to her.

And now here she was, standing in Central Park at night amongst a rapidly increasing group of people.

She spotted a few familiar faces, like Clary, who was mostly running around and occasionally yelling at the guy called Jace or the mysterious guy who seemed to be busy making out with the tall, dark-haired guy.

Maureen pushed through the crowd, making her way towards Clary who was currently busy flailing her arms around while another girl smiled at her, saying something. They shared a sickeningly sweet _look_ with each other. Maureen caught the rest of their conversation.

"... will be here any second now, and I need _someone_ ," Clary shot a meaningful look at the other girl,"to convince Magnus to stop eating Alec's face and _do something_ about the lights."

The other girl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm on it," she said. Then she pecked Clary on the cheek and left to supposedly talk to this Magnus guy. Maureen followed her as she walked straight to the mysterious guy kissing the tall guy. What had Clary called him? Alex? They broke apart, and Maureen could see Tall Dark Guy's face turn pale at what she said.

She turned to look at Clary, who had a forced smile plastered on to her face as she tucked on a strand of her hair in a way that _had_ to be painful.

"Are you alright?" Maureen asked, and Clary started, looking at her. Her smile fell away, and she sighed deeply.

"Yeah. I'm the official wedding planner, alongside Izzy," she gestured at the girl who was now showing The Mysterious Guy something on her phone, "and it's a bit hectic."

"I bet," Maureen agreed, looking around. "When will Simon be here?"

Clary checked her phone. "Well, he was supposed to be here about twenty minutes ago, but I haven't seen him. If he doesn't turn up in the next few minutes, though, I'm pretty sure Raphael will have a fit." There was a pause as Clary rapidly typed something and pursed her lips. " _I'm_ going to have a fit, soon."

Maureen took this a subtle sign to walk away, wishing Clary good luck as she took a few steps back and was swallowed by the crowd.

**viii. Simon**

Simon was biting his nails, sitting in the backseat of his car. Any minute now Clary would open the door and take him down to the wedding venue, walk him to the altar and leave to take her own place in the front row. And Raphael would be there already, waiting for him.

Raphael, whom he was marrying.

Simon was _getting married_.

He swallowed nervously, fidgeting with his cuff links.

It didn't take long for Clary to arrive to pick him up. She smiled encouragingly as Simon stood up from the car and she linked their arms together, holding him up. Simon wasn't even embarrassed to admit that he was heavily leaning on her for support.

They walked in silence through the park. It was dark around them, but soon Simon saw lights in the distance, twinkling brightly. He suspected Magnus was behind them - they seemed unnaturally bright and well arranged to be normal. He felt his lips turn up into a tiny smile.

As they approached the place and he saw the last row of people already seated down, the nervous feeling returned, resting in his stomach. "Why are there so many people?" He whispered to Clary, who tightened her grip on his arm.

"Just breathe," she whispered back, then snapped her mouth shut as they stepped on to the carpet. Simon honestly didn't understand the point of having it, but he wasn't about to argue over a fucking carpet right now.

His heart beat sped up with each step as they walked through the crowd, the guests turning to look at him. The faces were a blur, for the most part. In the front row he saw Rebecca, seated next to Magnus, seated next to Alec, with Isabelle on the left most side of the bench. Maryse was on the other side of the lane with Jace and Maureen, who smiled at him and gave a thumbs up.

Clary left him at the front of the crowd, stepping back to sit between Isabelle and Alec. Simon took a deep breath, taking the remaining few steps before he was standing in front of Raphael.

The sight of Raphael, smiling at him, calmed Simon down a bit. Then he looked at him, _really_ looked, and _jesus_ who knew Raphael could look _even better_ in a suit than he normally did?

The ceremony moved on in a blurry - Simon was vaguely aware of mumbling through his own vows, and Magnus getting teary eyed during Raphael's speech, and them exchanging the coins Raphael had insisted on per tradition, and then-

Then Raphael slipped the ring to his finger, and someone said _you may kiss the groom_ , and Simon felt like his heart was going to burst through his chest when Raphael leaned close and wrapped his arms around him, pressing their lips together, cold against cold. There was clapping, and Simon was pretty sure he saw Alec get another tissue out for Magnus before he closed his eyes, falling into Raphael's arms.

His _husband's_ arms.

Simon grinned against Raphael's lips, happy.

**ix. Raphael**

Raphael had his hands on Simon's waist, his head resting against Simon's shoulder and Simon's arms curled around his neck as they danced, softly swaying from side to side as mellow music played in the background. The room around them was quiet, or maybe Raphael just blocked the outside noises from his mind. He quickly glanced up to see Isabelle spin Clary around in her arms, before pressing his forehead back against Simon.

He couldn't recall a time when he'd been happier than he was right now.

"You're my husband now," Simon suddenly giggled, and Raphael felt a smile tug at his lips.

"I am," he agreed quietly.

"Like, for real," Simon continued.

"For real," Raphael confirmed, closing his eyes.

"I get to have you for forever," Simon exclaimed happily.

Raphael hummed, turning his head slightly to press a gentle kiss to Simon's neck.

"Forever," he promised.

**x. Rebecca**

Rebecca watched from the corner of the room as her brother swayed in the arms of his new husband, giggling loudly every once in a while. She sipped her champagne, tearing her eyes away from the two as she looked around the rest of the room.

She saw Clary, slow dancing with the girl who had earlier introduced herself to Rebecca as Isabelle Lightwood. A little to their right, Isabelle's brother was comforting the man who'd been sitting next to her during the ceremony. Rebecca recalled the man had burst into tears during the vows - or perhaps a bit earlier, already. Not that she was one to talk - as soon as she had seen Simon walk down the aisle, her eyes had gotten watery.

Then there was Jace, whom Simon had talked - or complained - about quite a lot, talking to a seemingly unimpressed Maureen, who kept rolling her eyes.

The rest of the guests were unfamiliar, and Rebecca couldn't help but think how many of the people here were vampires, or... something else.

There was a sudden tap on her shoulder, and Rebecca turned her head to the left to see a woman standing there, smiling shyly.

"Hi," the stranger said. "I'm, uh, Elizabeth. I'm a friend of Raphael's," the woman introduced herself.

Rebecca smiled back at her, taking another sip of her drink. "Rebecca. Simon's sister," she told her.

Elizabeth's eyes widened a fraction. "Oh!" She exclaimed softly, "so you probably know that, that he's a- and that I am- I mean, that-" Her stuttering was cut short as Rebecca snorted.

"That he sucks blood now? Yeah, I know," she said and Elizabeth blushed, ducking her head.

"I didn't mean to be rude or anything," she said. Her eyes turned sad as she looked at Rebecca again. "I'm sorry. It must've been hard to learn about it."

Rebecca waved her hand nonchalantly, drowning the rest of the glass in one gulp. "It took some adjusting," she admitted. "But it's alright now."

"Well, I'm glad," Elizabeth said. Then she grinned at Rebecca, offering her hand. "Can I have a dance?"

Rebecca grinned back. "Of course," she said and then let herself be led to the dancefloor.

She caught Simon's eyes while they danced, and he threw her a wink.

She didn't even have the heart to give him back a middle finger.


End file.
